Vivek Chibber: Imperialism, Orientalism and Social Emancipation

This is the first annual Imperialism and Culture lecture hosted by the Centre for Colonial and Postcolonial Studies at the University of Kent
This new annual lecture series aims to revisit the question of culture and imperialism in postcolonial studies. By bringing capitalism and class back in, it reframes dominant conceptions of imperial power in the humanities, and advances alternative interrogations of empire and culture.
Vivek Chibber is Professor of Sociology at New York University and delivered his lecture, Imperialism, Orientalism and Social Emancipation at the University of Kent on the 21st March 2019.

[@feynmanschwingere_mc2270]

Brilliant, Brilliant, Brillaint. He's a brilliant thinker and writer. Awesome lecture, should have way more views.

[@kreyvegas1]

A really impressive talk; it has put many points under the correct light for me. Thank you !!

[@deantunkara1567]

I actually clapped at the end of this highly informative and entertaining lecture. Also, mention of or reference to the work of Franz Fanon would not have gone amiss.

[@Nieosoba]

great lecture, very clear depiction. he is so right about Said. His book is marvelous but also so so deeply entrench in colonialism the same with Spivak, magnificent author but also so deeply entrenched in those oriental conceptions.

[@gripezinhas4619]

"in those oriental conceptions"? What is meant by that? That sounds very (to use Said's term) 'orientalist' and maybe eurocentric..? I mean, i ask myself how much colonialism your quote reproduces?

[@elbarca223]

I am tired of these Indian scholars who critique (justifiably) imperialism, orientalism, and colonialism, but do not say a word about the Caste system in the country they are from. These privileged academics and scholars criticize colonialism but do not do and speak of anything against the curse of the caste system. Most of these scholars are from the upper caste. The question is why. Why they do not write to reject the demonizing narrative of the caste system?

[@scottmcloughlin4371]

@@gripezinhas4619 Watch the presentation. Focus. Use a pen and take notes. You missed the point of this lecture.

[@ramj0y]

@@elbarca223 this is so important a criticism because this repriorotizes culture and it's material effects as the object which conditions social relations. We really need to give up on utopian ideas that there is a best way forward. Absolutely, materialism matters especially in the basic needs of the poor, but the the reproduction of culture also matters. However, his critique of subaltern studies is important but can be significantly sharper looking through caste.

[@CrazyAl1991]

@@elbarca223 Dude, if you paid any attention to the talk you would know this guy is obviously against the caste system. He is arguing that those traditional ways of life like the caste system, that were beneficial for both the local ruling classes in the colonies and their foreign colonizers, were fostered by the latter when they decided to move from a transformative program of colonization that pretended to develop the colonies into industrial hubs, as in the west have been done, to a new program whose ideological framework rests on the belief that east and west are fundamentally different, because the first transformative approach was provoking too much political stirring that was a menace to their maintenance of power and control over their colonies. I haven't watched the entire talk yet but I know this.

[@scottmcloughlin4371]

Fantastic presentation. Worth watching two or three times.

[@krakatit7730]

yeah, for low IQ people.

[@zviben-dorbenite3751]

Great talk

[@Yo911Mamma]

this talk and vivek are just something else man. wow

[@MR-xl5ni]

Very impressively articulated realities

[@kintarooe8622]

thank you, mr. chibber.

[@xrellerx]

Going out with a BANG!

[@bell_u.sanchezh]

Amazing talk, very informative and thought provocative

[@elbarca223]

I am tired of these Indian scholars who critique (justifiably) imperialism, orientalism, and colonialism, but do not say a word about the Caste system in the country they are from. These privileged academics and scholars criticize colonialism but do not do and speak of anything against the curse of the caste system. Most of these scholars are from the upper caste. The question is why. Why they do not write to reject the demonizing narrative of the caste system?

[@CrazyAl1991]

@@elbarca223 Dude, if you paid any attention to the talk you would know this guy is obviously against the caste system. He is arguing that those traditional ways of life like the caste system, that were beneficial for both the local ruling classes in the colonies and their foreign colonizers, were fostered by the latter when they decided to move from a transformative program of colonization that pretended to develop the colonies into industrial hubs, as in the west have been done, to a new program whose ideological framework rests on the belief that east and west are fundamentally different, because the first transformative approach was provoking too much political stirring that was a menace to their maintenance of power and control over their colonies. I haven't watched the entire talk yet but I know this.

[@oro7114]

What scares me about the economic segment is that I can fully imagine the private sector simply dominating these new industries, controlling the house,health and transport of newly trained workers and having huge workforces indebted to them.

[@comradetrip5958]

Yes, when the Green New Deal proposed by AOC is dependent on the overthrow of the Bolivian government and the deregulation of the mining industry in a largely indigenous country so a company like Tesla can dominate their lithium supply, it doesn't sound very Green or anti-Capitalist.

[@seatangle]

"You can't have racial oppression without class oppression." Seems obvious, but really cuts through a lot.

[@drjaydeepchakrabarty]

Actually Said's critique of Anglo-French colonialism and American Imperialism has often been misunderstood as cases for inverse cultural ascendancy on the part of the "Orirntals." That was not his purpose. Even in his good old Orientalism these were said, but formulated with greater clarity in successive works. Especially in his last major critical work Humanism and Democratic Criticism. Said's critique of western culture and imperialism is not an argument for replacing those phenomena by oriental culture and imperialism, but for an inclusive humanism.

[@drongo6367]

Chibber is a little bit sloppy with Said (though his general critiques of postcolonial studies as a politically neutered outgrowth of the academy still stands). In Culture and Imperialism (1993), Said clarifies that culture does not, in fact, cause empire, but rather, that material struggles are reflected in cultural representations. He actually briefly discusses the role of capitalism in empire in parts of that book. So while Chibber is right that Said’s reliance on foucaldian frameworks of power (which figure prominently in Orientalism and others) misunderstand empire, to say that Said rejected materialism is just wrong. It’s a tension in his work for sure, but if you read anything from Said on foreign policy or Palestine, he used materialist analyses (oil, American global hegemony, etc). He was actually friends with Chomsky in part because their work intersected so much on Israel-Palestine and foreign policy.

[@CraigDeLarge]

Does one feel oppressed if it is not defined for them? 🤔 Insightful for sure. Enlightening even.

[@mareksicinski3726]

49:34 ‘the’- dubious An important moment in thsi area dk history for understanding later history. It was presaged

[@oceanbearmountain]

that first question i was like.. what? what is she trying to say/ask? and then chibber was like "i don't understand" so yeah, wtf

[@jancoil4886]

Said takes a lot of flak for Orientalism (some of it justified) but he was and is so much more than just one book. You get the sense that the essence of Said is some form of democratic humanism. Given what is going on in the world today any form of humanism would be welcome.

[@Syychro]

What is the politics of this type of democratic humanism? Who organizes it and what is it organized for?

[@esta8651]

Interesting

[@afeefahmed9626]

where can we find the text of this lecture?

[@mareksicinski3726]

14:44 or of thsi variant of orientalist There is gradation, orie talos m can just mean study of one area by another, it can be critical, contra sadi

[@akshithau4614]

It would be amazing if you guys provided either subtitles or a link to the manuscript of this speech for more accessibility

[@nirbhaynandan72]

turn on CC you idiot!! the more you are given the more ask for....u got easy access to these lecture but noe u want fucking transcript.

[@kreyvegas1]

@@nirbhaynandan72 The first three words in your comment were enough. The rest is senseless, violent crap. It sounds like you're capable of committing some fucked up crime.

[@bishnucharandash6583]

Insighful

[@Simon-hp4py]

25:30

[@mareksicinski3726]

31:06 there were different structures within them There were tons of different ideologies and movements, the issue was not consciously trying not to be alone, but trying to didn’t hints that fit their image, while at the same time some levels made sens I would say this is very partial A lot do the movements esp agains they Vietnam war was extremely diverse ideologically an internet terms of specific positions ‘Marxism’ can be many things it shouldn’t be vlaiursed The structure of academia has a lot for lack

[@ezrouramohamed3631]

Nice lecture, but definitely misreading E.Said. For Said there are no essentials neither in the West nor in the East. He is more Foucauldian and Derridian than simply Neitzschean...See his Culture and Imperialism for more references to Capitalism, etc... Said's references to Marx and Gramsci and Althusser are everywhere...

[@drjaydeepchakrabarty]

Yes, you are absolutely right about Said. Even in his good old Orientalism these were said, but formulated with greater clarity in successive works. Especially in his last major critical work Humanism and Democratic Criticism. Said's critique of western culture and imperialism is not an argument for replacing that by oriental culture and imperialism, but for an inclusive humanism.

[@Cyberphunkisms]

so many misreadings; Vivek Chibber never even uses the word Foucauldian "neoliberalism"

[@Kriskazam]

But Vivek Chibber is a critique of Gramsci as well. Gramsci was a radlib who helped Stalin’s takeover of the Comintern lol.

[@NoPrivateProperty]

socialists must manifest their destiny and bring the chickens home to roost

[@AntonioPeralesdelHierro]

...and keep the stupid macho out of it, or forget the whole thing. You want a "New Frontier" there it is. 🍷😄

[@archiboldwindsor7447]

Vivvek not white labels but INDEGENOUS ism, hindutva, got all served starting peasantry to upwards. Adthianath #yogi

[@colemanlukas89]

first

[@mareksicinski3726]

53:13 ‘returning’ to ‘Marxism’ 53:130 that is a ridiculously dubious revisionist stance. The issue was conflict on the Hanoi Moscow axis and differential policies, cost cutting and wishing not to be too obdurate. You can tell a Mirror sorry of this isn a pro US way

[@mareksicinski3726]

51:59 I don’t lk the terminology

[@galabz]

Stumbled on another Vivek lecture which surprised me by its cultural explanation of the defeat of the socialist momentum of the anti-colonial struggle… it’s apparently the Black and Brown academics seeking career prospects responsible for the weakness of Marxist politics!!! Whatever happened to the materialist analysis!!!

[@elbarca223]

I am tired of these Indian scholars who critique (justifiably) imperialism, orientalism, and colonialism, but do not say a word about the Caste system in the country they are from. These privileged academics and scholars criticize colonialism but do not do and speak of anything against the curse of the caste system. Most of these scholars are from the upper caste. The question is why. Why they do not write to reject the demonizing narrative of the caste system?

[@kreyvegas1]

Don't get so tired; it wasn't the Indians who went to England to oppress the Brits. Every point at its rightful time.

[@gurbaazsingh9353]

Actually his critique of orientalism could indeed be used to discuss the caste system too. When he talks about lawyers getting together asking for autonomy staying inside the colonial framework he is literally talking about the INC.

[@inbuckswetrust7357]

The caste system in India is just the most beneficial for the metropolis, which is why its remnants still exist. Do you think there are no castes in Western societies? Then you are super-naive, in this respect the Indians are more honest. Bureaucracy, bankers, oligarchs like Elon or Bezos, is this not a caste? Or are there no beggars in Europe and the USA? And all these collars of different colors are not castes? :)

[@CrazyAl1991]

Dude, if you paid any attention to the talk you would know this guy is obviously against the caste system. He is arguing that those traditional ways of life like the caste system, that were beneficial for both the local ruling classes in the colonies and their foreign colonizers, were fostered by the latter when they decided to move from a transformative program of colonization that pretended to develop the colonies into industrial hubs, as in the west have been done, to a new program whose ideological framework rests on the belief that east and west are fundamentally different, because the first transformative approach was provoking too much political stirring that was a menace to their maintenance of power and control over their colonies. I haven't watched the entire talk yet but I know this.

[@MR-xl5ni]

India is well aware and as a country trying to shed the caste system. However the Westerners do not want this because they won't be able to attack the caste system if that is corrected in India. For the Westerners the caste system is a gold mine of wealth to use it to their advantage. Also please be aware that the other side (that is Hindus in India) are also tired of being attacked by the so-called intellectuals in American universities. They have a hidden agenda which is the reason for their attacks on Hindu caste system.